BT set to sell fridges and subscriptions in push for more customers

It’s still good to talk, but increasingly BT customers are doing it wherever they like via connected mobile devices rather than fixed-line broadband and old-fashioned telephones.

BT is branching out from its telco business into household appliances and a subscription service in a rebranding effort to accelerate customer growth.

EE, BT’s mobile and retail division, will diversify its offerings by introducing household electronic goods, such as smart fridges and coffee machines, as soon as next year.

The company is also set to expand into subscription services, with a digital platform called ‘EE ID’, a suite of products and services including payments, gaming and insurance.

EE chief Marc Allera, said the move will “transform” customer experience beyond mere connectivity offerings.

“With an EE ID, customers nationwide will be able to access a wide range of exciting new products, services and experiences across new sectors – easily and conveniently, in one place.”

Allera said telcos are more irrelevant than they once were. “People are not thinking about their network provider…we are worried about it and want to do something different,” he told the Financial Times prior to the launch today.

BT is currently on a cost-cutting drive to reinvigorate its performance, as the company grapples with a 25 per cent drop in share price over the past six months.

“This is a significant moment for BT, the new EE, Marc Allera and UK consumers,” said Paolo Pescatore, leading media analyst and founder of PP Foresight.

“Consumer behavioural patterns have changed, and it is about time telcos evolve. This latest revolutionary move represents a radical and fundamental shift in thinking and approach in the way a telco operates.

“Strategically, this puts the new EE in pole position compared to its traditional telco rivals. Others have their own challenges and will fall further adrift given the need to be more flexible and agile in a radically converged and cut-throat marketplace.

“This will force them to accelerate their own efforts, platforms, mindset, and strategic vision,” Pescatore explained.

Allison Kirkby is poised to take the reins as BT chief executive, after Philip Jansen announced in July he will step down “at an appropriate moment” within the next year.

BT is branching out from its telco business into household appliances and a subscription service in a rebranding effort to accelerate customer growth.

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